Health Workers Hijacked While Delivering Mandela Month Services

Four Eastern Cape Department of Health workers were hijacked and robbed near Qumbu on Wednesday while on their way to deliver essential rehabilitation services, leaving a rural community without much-needed care.

The team was en route to Mzoboshe Village in Qumbu to provide outreach health programs for Mandela Month when their vehicle was hijacked. All their belongings were stolen, including equipment meant for community assessments.

As a result, residents of Mhlonto have been deprived of services including assessments for assistive devices and wheelchairs.

“An attack on the community itself”

Health MEC *Ms Ntandokazi Capa* strongly condemned the incident, calling the perpetrators “ruthless individuals who showed total disregard for the welfare of their own communities.”

“These teams were taking health services to people’s doorsteps — a gesture that honors the sacrifices of former President Mandela and embodies the spirit of Mandela Month. To attack those who serve is an attack on the community itself,” MEC Capa said in a statement released 16 July.

The MEC has urged law enforcement to “leave no stone unturned” in investigating the hijacking and bringing those responsible to book.

“We must educate communities, and the criminals themselves, about the essential services health workers provide indiscriminately to all our people, including those who commit crime,” she added.

The Department called on communities to defend health workers, saying “robbing a health worker in broad daylight is a heinous act that must be condemned by everyone.”

“Health is a basic right enshrined in our Constitution, and no one has the liberty to tamper with the delivery of such an essential public service,” the statement read.

The four affected health workers will receive psychological support and may be granted leave to recover at home.

Police have confirmed an investigation is underway.